Hilton Panama — Hotel in Bella Vista

LOCATION: This hotel is located on Balboa Avenue, one of the most exclusive areas in Panama City, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It is about two miles from Casco Viejo (the old city) and located an easy walk from numerous restaurants and stores.| |GETTING HERE: If flying into Tocumen International Airport, the best way to get to the Hilton is via Uber or a pre-booked shuttle. While the city’s subway goes to Tocumen, there is no stop located within an easy walk of the hotel. Taxis in Panama City have a reputation for overcharging. Uber is both reliable and less expensive than a taxi. (Indeed, during my visit to Panama City, when I could not walk to a location, I used Uber.)||THE STAFF: The staff of the hotel is amazing. Those who work at the front desk were exceptionally helpful, the breakfast staff are diligent in taking care of patrons, and the restaurant staff – more on the restaurants coming up – are wonderful.||ROOMS: The rooms are roomy and comfortable. Mine had a king size bed, large, flat-screen TV, a big shower, a chair and footrest, and a refrigerator. I loved the shower, which had a rain shower head coming off the ceiling. ||I found that housekeeping tended to stop by in the afternoon (between 3-5 pm). This was not an issue for me but could be for those persons who prefer to have their rooms made up earlier. I have no doubt that the staff would accommodate those who would like housekeeping to come by earlier. ||EATS: I guess the best place to begin is breakfast. I have stayed at numerous Hiltons, and this one easily has one of the most amazing breakfasts I have seen. Trying to do it justice is virtually impossible, but the huge variety of choices includes made-to-order omelettes, all kinds of hot items – some of which changed daily (including scrambled eggs, vegetables, chorizo, and bacon) – fruits, cheeses, breads, cold deli meats, yogurts, juices, cereals, and milk.||There are several restaurants in the hotel (though one of them was closed when I was there). Niba offers Panamanian food (much of which is seafood-based) and Society Café is more American insofar as fare. Then there is the Emotions Dinner Theater. In addition to a terrific menu that includes sushi, Emotions has a theater aimed at giving patrons a taste of Las Vegas. You will want to make reservations in advance if you decide to go to Emotions. ||If you want room service, the hotel offers it. I found the price of meals comparable to what I paid in the restaurants. ||WORKOUT FACILITY: I always work out when I travel, and the Hilton Panama City has what I would regard as among the top three fitness centers I have used at any hotel. There is a wide array of Life Fitness equipment that allows one to work every part of the body. For those who like free weights, there is a leg press, a Smith machine, and dumbbells up to 50 pounds (plus a pair of dumbbells weighing 75 pounds). In addition, one can use standard and/or recumbent bikes, treadmills, elliptical machines, kettle bells, and ropes. There are also men’s and women’s locker rooms. The gym is open 24 hours. ||The only recommendation I would have for the gym is the addition of some kind of stretching equipment, such as that made by Precor or TRUE Stretch. ||For those who enjoy a swim, the hotel has a heated outdoor pool surrounded by lounge chairs. Next to it is a bar for those who want a drink. From the pool, one can get a nice view of the city and the ocean.||While I did not use it, the hotel also has a spa where one can get a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, and/or body wrap, and enjoy a sauna and whirlpool. ||FINAL WORD: This hotel, whether talking about the staff, the rooms, or the amenities, is simply wonderful. I plan on returning to Panama City, and I intend to...

Parking: I didn't notice any designated parking spots here and the area out front would be too busy to park I would think. We took an Uber and Taxi around town, so didn't need it.

Lobby: This was a bit odd because where we were dropped off is basically downstairs from the lobby. I think because it was the entrance to the casino. Anyway, you take the elevators up and the lobby is righr there. The lobby is quite big and would accommodate probably a small busload of folks. There are a couple seating options. The staff were very pleasant and spoke very good English, which I appreciated as my Spanish is horrible.

Elevator: There are two sets of elevators which can be a little confusing at first. One set is only for guest rooms, lobby and conference floors. The other set is for conference floors, lobby, ground floor and basement (I think). The elevators are a bit on the small side. I think we had 8 people in them once, with no bags. If you had a couple suitcases and carry-ons, you might get 3 people in them. They were fairly quick and we didn't have to wait too long, however it was a bit of a pain when on the 25th floor heading down it stopped at 6 floors and by the 3rd stop no one else could get on, so we just had to wave to folks when it opened and closed. I've been to other locations that would skip floors after 3 stops.

Room: The room was pretty nice. It had a small desk, wet bar, 2 beds and a nice view of the ocean and a bit of city skyline. The temperature controls were easy and kept the room very comfortable. Lighting controls were a bit different as they were push button, but it was evident at night why. The button by the bed can turn off all the lights with one push.

Bathroom: This was pretty big with a walkin shower. Toilet was around from the shower and had its on fan and light. The fan was a bit on the loud side. Shower pressure was good. Took a little while for the water to get hot, but it was hot enough that I had to turn it down. towels were pretty big and didn't have any burnt smell like some can get. The bathroom did have a sliding glass door into the bed area, which might be bad if you have a situation where someone gets up well before the other as the bathroom lights will shine through.

Cafe: We went to the cafe/bar when we arrived because we had gotten in late. While we were seated pretty quickly (at a table and chairs that would fit better in a living room), the service was very slow. We both ordered meals instead of appetizers because how hungry we were. The meal I got was pork belly, but it would have been more of an appetizer in size and had no sides. My partner got what was listed as a fish fillet, but came out as a whole fish with the spine and most ribs removed. When he complained, they tried to explain that it was a fillet and there were no bones, however, he found several. In the meantime, we had to ask for drink refills and finally we gave up and left.

Restaurant: The restaurant was much better the next days for breakfast and lunch. The breakfast was a bit like a European buffet with a chef cooking made to order eggs. There were good selections of fruits, cereals, yogurts, breads and meats. Lunch was another buffet style, but they also had a menu that you could order from.

Conference rooms: Since I was there for a conference, I can speak on this: The rooms were nicely done and labeled well for our group. There were other conferences going on, but we did not hear them until we went on break. At breaks they had provided finger foods, coffee and tea.

Overall, this was a very nice place and if I'm in the area again, I wouldn't mind...

The building is well located and has great views and restaurant choices within the building. The restaurants in the buiding are better than 99% in the city but each meal can run $50 per person depending on how you dine.

There's no way to know what the roomview will be like before you book. We spoke at length Spanish with the receptionist who was very courteous and helpful. She booked us the room with the best view that faces the Canal and the Pacific. This was a standard room with the ocean view. This room is unlike others in that there is basically an enclosed box of glass on three sides that makes you feel like you're on an observation deck and I would pay just to see the view. We stayed in room 2407.

I could only give 4 stars because the room was not restocked before nor during our stay with coffee or drinks. Also the cleaning crew only changes sheets and cleans the bathroom. They apparently do not clean any other part of the room. They will not take any plates, cups, or even the tables that room service brings. Instead they shift the burden to room service which is unlike other hotels and frankly poorly managed and planned. They left the welcome plate with chocolates there for 7 days on the table. Pretty weird.

Room service will not return to the room to recover any dishes. Instead they ask you to leave uneaten plates, food, etc. Outside of the room which is, lets be honest, trashy to walk into a 5 star hotel and see and smell plates of half eaten food on the floor.

Other than that the room and hotel was very nice. There could be more attention to maintenence like the repatching work that was done in the bathroom which looked poorly done.

The design is better than 99% of hotels I have stayed in but there is no privacy in the bathroom. The door doesn't close all the way. You can hear all the bathroom noises from whoever is using the bathroom. Some of the light buttons did not work.

There's no need to upgrade to a suite unless you want a jacuzzi. Most will love the room design and features. We could also hear lots of noises including sex noises from rooms next to us. I didnt mind as much but I imagine other guests can hear whatever you might be doing in your room as well. The curtains needed a minor repair. The staff was very nice and helpful. There are a lot if not most american or English speaking guests in the hotel. Breakfast buffet looked good. Room service menu is limited and overpriced. We payed $75 for breakfast for two. The minibar is poorly stocked. They have one shot of gin and one shot of vodka and ofcourse they are...